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Old 12-23-2013, 05:59 PM
 
Location: Charlotte. Or Detroit.
1,456 posts, read 4,126,668 times
Reputation: 3275

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Hey everyone -- despite all the rain we had a wonderful time in your city!

I'm a little pressed for time right now, but I'll try my best to post some details tomorrow -- maybe even a picture or two.

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice. Y'all definitely helped make the trip better!
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Old 12-23-2013, 06:15 PM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,709,519 times
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^^ The weekend weather was definitely less than desirable. But I hope your weekend was not a total washout. If you found something to enjoy about Cincy even on a lousy weather weekend, please tell us about it. Hopfully you will come back during better weather. But frankly, the majority of the winter in Cincy is dark, dank, and grey overcast dreary. We are used to it, but you may not. We don't have a lot of heavy snow, but the remainder of the winter is rather dismal.

Have a good time back in Charlotte, and please come to visit us when the weather can be anticipated to be enjoyable.
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Old 12-24-2013, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Charlotte. Or Detroit.
1,456 posts, read 4,126,668 times
Reputation: 3275
Okay, now that I've caught my breath I can tell y'all a little about our trip:

The drive from Charlotte was good, mostly dry, no real traffic until just outside of Cincinnati.

Checked into the hotel around 2 o'clock. If anyone ever needs a downtown hotel recommendation, I encourage you to recommend the Residence Inn with confidence. It was great -- very clean, great service, pretty much everything you could ask for.

Friday afternoon/evening:
We walked around downtown, looking at decorations and the tree and the skaters at Fountain Square. Bought treats at Servatii and Graeter's. Explored the Carew Tower a little bit - lovely building! - and then went up to the observation deck for a bird's eye view of the city (definitely a bargain at $2). A bit more walking, still not much rain. Checked out the baseball stadium and its statues.

Finally, we went to dinner at Moerlein's. Whoa. That place is wonderful. We only had room for appetizers and dessert, and it was all delicious. We had some sort of garlic shrimp dish served on garlic bread that was just to die for and also a plate of fried pickles and peppers. The caramel streusel cake topped with Graeter's ice cream for dessert was a show-stopper.

After dinner took a stroll along the river admiring the bridges and eventually returned to the hotel after re-visiting the Fountain Square area. Considered a horse-drawn carriage ride, but the $35 seemed a little steep and frankly the carriages were a little on the garish side.

Saturday:
It rained. Then it rained some more. Then it slowed/stopped for a minute. Then it rained harder. But we still managed to have some fun.

We had breakfast at the hotel, and it was impressive. Hot buffet with eggs and meats and potatoes and pancakes and fruit and well, just about anything you could want.

Then we left the hotel planning on walking to Findlay Market. We got about fifty feet and decided to return to the hotel and have them bring our car around. So then we drove to Findlay Market and fell in love with it, despite feeling like it would have been a lot more enjoyable without the constant downpour.

Due to the rain we drove to the Vine/Central intersection to do some Over-the-Rhine exploring. Armed with an umbrella for me and a raincoat for my wife we set about strolling down Vine and loving all the shops and murals and artsy-ness of it all. Smelled Holtman's doughnuts from about a block away and followed our noses to a little piece of doughnut heaven. We split something called a tiger tail (basically a glazed strip with a fudge streak through the middle) and it was quite possibly the best doughnut I had ever had. But it only held that title for about thirty seconds. Because our second doughnut was a maple. With BACON on it. THERE WAS BACON ON THE DOUGHNUT. BACON! Just when I thought nothing in the world could be better than a maple doughnut! I may come back to Cincinnati some day JUST FOR THE DOUGHNUTS. And I'd be willing to bet that on my next drive to Detroit I'll take the route through Cincy, JUST FOR THE DOUGHNUTS. So good!

While strolling through OtR and trying to stay dry we went into several places, our favorites being Rookman Pottery and Iris Bookcafe. Bought a gift for an aunt at Rookman, and a tshirt at Iris --not to mention a coffee drink that my wife LOVED.

Eventually we were pretty wet and pretty tired and just made our way back to the hotel where we relaxed and watched tv till dinner time. We walked (and by then it was hardly raining at all!) to a place on Walnut called Nada that my wife had spotted and wanted to try. Gourmet Mexican, I guess you could call it. Really nice place, and the food was fantastic. Started with chips and salsa. The chips were good enough to eat without the salsa -- dipped into the salsa they were even better. Then we had three "barbacoa" tacos (beef with a bunch of fancy stuff in with it) and three crispy pork belly tacos. The barbacoa ones were excellent, but the pork belly ones were just exceptional - so much flavor!

Soon it was time for our reason for coming to Cincinnati -- the Over The Rhine concert at the Taft Theatre. Our favorite band playing what they billed as their "Holiday Homecoming Show". They played old favorites, they played new favorites off their current record, they played old holiday favorites from their Christmas records, and they played new songs from their upcoming 2014 Christmas record -- and it was all just perfect. Of course, we then walked the three blocks back to the hotel in a torrential downpour but by then we didn't even care.

Sunday:
We planned on a trip to Mt. Adams and maybe a return trip to Holtman's doughnuts, but in the end we decided to just load up on another delicious hotel breakfast and hit the road. And I'm glad we did. The drive home was slow and miserable - so much rain. But we eventually made it back home safe and sound.

Cincinnati, you were wonderful. Your people were friendly and nice. We were only approached by two panhandlers -- and even they were polite. Your city is very walkable and has many beautiful things to see and do. Everything we ate was delicious. We will be back, and we look forward to it.

Last edited by Timm; 12-24-2013 at 09:24 AM..
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Old 12-24-2013, 08:49 AM
 
Location: Charlotte. Or Detroit.
1,456 posts, read 4,126,668 times
Reputation: 3275
Some pics:

The Doughnut


Over The Rhine


Me, at Vine and Central (I think)


Caramel streusel cake at Moerling's


Grey day from atop the Carew Tower:


Over the rain in Over-the-Rhine
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Old 12-24-2013, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,709,519 times
Reputation: 1954
Timm ... So glad you enjoyed your wet weekend in Cincinnati.

When we get feedback from such as yourself, saying you enjoyed yourself even on a wet weekend with less than desirable weather, it makes us feel good. So happy you found a good time, even in bad weather.

We want you to enjoy Cincinnati, so please come back sometime when the weather is good, but you will need more than 2 days to explore all this city has to offer.
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Old 12-24-2013, 10:56 AM
 
2,886 posts, read 4,953,129 times
Reputation: 1508
Timm, your posting is a lovely Christmas gift to everyone on this forum. So glad you enjoyed your visit.
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Old 12-24-2013, 11:43 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati (Norwood)
3,530 posts, read 4,995,912 times
Reputation: 1929
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah Perry View Post
Timm, your posting is a lovely Christmas gift to everyone on this forum. So glad you enjoyed your visit.
^ Ditto!
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Old 12-24-2013, 01:57 PM
 
17,344 posts, read 13,077,292 times
Reputation: 32639
Quote:
Originally Posted by SportsMHNut View Post
Ive only lived here for a year, actually two weeks short of a year, so I was going to leave recommendations to the Cincinnati natives who know far more than I about this city but I have to say something now. That statement is ridiculous. It may have been true years ago I dont know but it most certainly is not the case anymore. Should you use common sense walking around the core of ANY city in the World? Well yeah of course but should you avoid being on the streets of Downtown Cincinnati after 9? Thats just ridiculous. I dont know if that person only remembers the old days or maybe does not have any common street smarts or is just completely paranoid but there is no reason to avoid walking around Downtown OR OTR after 9 as long as you pay attention as you should in any city.
I agree 100%
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Old 12-24-2013, 02:58 PM
 
218 posts, read 331,510 times
Reputation: 274
If you have any interest in architecture, especially art deco, history, or trains, I highly recommend adding the Cincinnati Museum Center to your list for your next trip to Cincinnati. It's the old Union Terminal, across I-75 from downtown. They offer excellent free tours of the terminal on Sunday. They'll take you to fascinating places in the terminal you wouldn't normally see. Union Terminal is a gorgeous work of art and I'm so glad it's been preserved. A fantastic place to spend a few hours. Cincinnati's a wonderful place.

Cincinnati Museum Center

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Old 12-24-2013, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,709,519 times
Reputation: 1954
Timm ... Glad you enjoyed your short time in Cincy.

Hope you come back soon and stay longer. You will discover why those who have been born and raised here love it so much and want to share it with the rest of the world.
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